Key election milestone reached
Today is writ day, a milestone on the election calendar when the formal writ is issued for the 2026 General Election to be held.
The Governor-General, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, signed the writ at Government House today directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the 2026 General Election on Saturday 7 November.
“The signing of the writ is a constitutional step in the election process. It sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day, and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates,” says Karl Le Quesne, Chief Electoral Officer.
The electoral rolls close for printing at midnight tonight and all voters who enrol after today up until the enrolment deadline at midnight 25 October, cast special declaration votes. Writ day is also the day when candidate and party advertising may start on television and radio.
Noon on Thursday 8 October is the deadline for registered parties to nominate their electorate candidates and supply their party lists, and for individual nominations of electorate candidates.
A full list of parties and candidates is expected to be publicly available online at vote.nz by 2pm, Friday 9 October.
The writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates by Thursday 3 December unless a recount is required.
The election timetable is available online at vote.nz/key-dates
Photo supplied by Government House: The Chief Electoral Officer, Karl Le Quesne, with the Governor-General, Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, and the Electoral Commission Board Chair, Hon Simon Moore KC, at Government House in Wellington for the signing of the writ.